The Lost Royal Flush
by kreative-dreamer
Summary: I left a year ago and never returned. I was simply passing through Central and saw that Ed needed help. Now that I helped, I have to face Roy...again.
1. Back in Central

"I'll be back before you know it," the young woman said to the Colonel standing in front of her. Her short, black hair framed her face elegantly. "I just have some unfinished business at home to take care of."

"Make sure to come back soon, Lieutenant, I have an assignment for you when you get back," he said. She inclined her head, bangs sending a shadow over her eyes.

"Thank you sir," the girl turned and walked out of the office.

The train took an unexpected jerk, pulling her from her dream. That meeting had been almost a year ago, yet she thought about it every day. "I just can't go back," she muttered to herself. Her hair was now long, but she tied it back with a silk flowered ribbon. 'When I get to Central, I'll sneak into an inn, make sure no recognizes me, then head out for Eastern tomorrow,' she thought.

A few hours later, the train pulled to a halt at Central station. She stood up and stretched, pulling her navy blue bag from the seat across from her. She pulled out dark sunglasses and slipped them over her eyes. As casually as she could act, she walked off the train and down the street.

"Hey stop will ya!" she turned to see a blond boy running after a man in black. He, the blond, looked like he was getting tired. Sighing, she put a hand into the pocket of her black coat and pulled out four playing cards, fanned out. With her free hand, she touched the back of her black finger-less glove where a transmutation circle was drawn. With a soft glow, the playing cards turned to daggers. Looking up at the guy in black, she threw the daggers at him. They caught the mans clothes and pinned him to the wall of the building he was passing.

"I always have to save the day," she said walking over to him. The blond caught up with her, trying to catch his breath.

"Hey…thanks…" he managed to get out between breaths. She waved her hand around impatiently. Walking over to the man pinned to the tree, she clapped her hands on his temples, causing him to fall unconscious. "Too easy," she said to herself pulling the daggers out of the wall and transmuting them back into cards. The blond guy watched her slightly opened mouthed. She looked at him, about to make some kind of smart remark, when she noticed his state alchemist pocketwatch hanging out of his pocket. Without another word, she turned and sped away. 'I knew I recognized that squirt. It's that Edward Elric. Best to just get out of here.' She thought, pumping her legs.

Unluckily for her, Ed thought that had been a bit suspicious. Plus he had to say thanks. Leaving Al to watch the prisoner, he ran after her. She ran faster when she saw him following. Being to busy watching him, She didn't see the curb. She fell and hit her head on the pavement, shaking it off; she got up and kept running. She took a wrong turn and ended up in a dead end right as Ed caught up with her.

"Hey! What are you running for?" he said panting. When he looked up, Ed found himself looking up the barrel of her pistol. She held it pointed at him, but he noticed that she was trembling, especially her legs. Right as he noticed this, She collapsed onto her knees still holding the gun level. A second later, Ed noticed another thing, her face was all scratched up now.

"Look kid," she said. Ed twitched slightly. "Just leave me alone, I know you wanna say thanks but it was noth..." She fell to the ground, unconscious, from a small concussion and the pain from her ankle. The gun fell from her hand, as Ed ran to her.

She woke up, head pounding, in a hospital bed. She sat up holding her head and looked around. Glancing out the open window, she was met with a familiar sight. She jumped out of bed and ran to the window. "Oh crap! I gotta get out of here!" she said looking down on Central headquarters. She grabbed her bag from the bedside table and pulled out a knee length denim skirt and a navy blue top. She had just pulled her shirt on when someone knocked on the door. She picked up her jacket, put on her sunglasses, and went to answer the door.

"You shouldn't be up just yet," Ed said, standing in front of her. She didn't say anything but, shoved past him, starting to run down the hall. It was a short-lived effort however, because a man in a military uniform stopped her. He had grabbed her wrist before she ran into him. She looked up at him. 'Crap again!' she thought before wrenching her wrist away and dashing down the hall. Ed made a move to run after her, but Mustang stopped him.

"She won't get far on that ankle," he said watching She. Not three seconds after he said it, her ankle gave in and she stumbled onto the floor. She leaned against the wall, holding her ankle.

"Damn it all," she said, eyes screwed up in pain. Ed walked over to her and held out his hand to help her up. She glared at him and pushed it away, leaning against the wall to stand her up. He looked at her, surprised, and said "I was just trying to help."

"Oh trust me you helped me enough by bringing me here," She said coldly making her way back to her room. Mustang and the Elrics followed her in. She crawled into the lumpy hospital bed, turning to stare out the window. "How long must I stay here?" she asked quietly.

"Unfortunately Miss, you might be here for awhile," Mustang said standing by the door. She pulled out a metal box wrapped in velvet from her bag and held it in her lap. "And why is that?" she asked gently unwrapping the box. The Colonel just smirked and left the room, leaving her and the Elrics there. "Hmmph, whatever. Oh, I never introduced myself," she said looking over at Edward. 'Which name to use…' she thought. "Mandy, just Mandy."

"Ok, hi Mandy I'm Edwar…" 'Mandy' stopped him by saying, "Yeah, yeah. Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist and his younger brother Alphonse. I know." She pulled out a piece of plastic and a small coin from her pocket. She pulled out a playing card with a transmutation circle on the back. Ed and Al looked curiously over at her and came closer to the bed. She laid out her coat and set the card on the inside of the chest. Setting the plastic and the coin on the card she touched the circle. In a small flash of light a zipper appeared in the inside of her coat. She unzipped the pocket and pulled out a small silver key, making sure they didn't see what else was in the pocket. She transmuted the zipper back into it's original form and put her coat aside.

"Um…question," Ed said looking confused, "What are you doing?"

"Yeah, I'd kinda like to know that too." Said Al. She just smiled and unlocked the box. Everything inside was separately wrapped in velvet. 'Good thing I wrapped everything up or they might've saw my old uniform.' She thought.

"Well I noticed that you guys confiscated my gun. It was because I pulled it on a State official wasn't it?" Ed nodded as she started to unwrap the thing on the top. "I thought so. Oh well, it doesn't matter." She pulled up her skirt alittle (only a little so don't get any ideas!) and strapped on a holster, hiding her leg from view. She sat up and started unwrapping something else. "That was really nice of you to, you know bring me to get medical attention but, I was fine."

"You were unconscious from a concussion!" Ed raised his voice abit, "What do you mean you were fine?"

"I would've woken up eventually. Edward, you did the worst possible thing by bringing me here!" She yelled at him pulling a pistol out of the velvet. She slipped it into the holster on her leg and looked up at him. Standing up, after locking the box up again, she shoved past him again limping. 'Mandy' grabbed her bag and walked towards the door. Ed stood in front of the door, arms stretched out, blocking her path.

"You can't leave yet," he said looking serious, "I have orders from the Colonel."

She tried hard not to pull her gun. "Look shorty," she said through clenched teeth. "Move or I'll shoot you."

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL THAT IF HE WAS A CRUMB EVEN A MOUSE WOULDN'T PICK IT UP?" Ed yelled in her face. She calmly pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the spittle off her face. She backed up and took off her sunglasses wiping them off.

"I didn't. What are you looking at?" she asked watching him a bit creeped out. Ed was staring at her eyes.

"Your eyes. They're blue with violet specks," he said. Ed shook his head and looked over her shoulder to Al. "Hey Al. Kindly escort Mandy back to her bed."

Al came up behind her and grabbed her arms. He carried her over to her bed and set her down.

"Damn it, I would shoot you if you weren't empty," she said to Al, then looked over at Ed, who was standing there with his jaw halfway to the ground. She realized her mistake. "Did I just say that out loud?"

"How did you know that?" Al asked. She put her sunglasses back on and didn't answer. Everyone stood there in silence for a few seconds before lying down on the bed.

"Go away. All this excitement has tuckered me out." She faced the window. The Elrics left and sat down beside the door.


	2. Catching more than I asked for

The next morning, the sun coming through the still open window woke Shyanna up. Yawning, she sat up and looked around the room. 'Ow, my head hurts' she thought putting her hand up to hold her head. A knock came from the door, causing her to wince. "Come in and keep it quiet!" she yelled, rather annoyed. Smirking like always, Mustang entered the room. Shyanna hurriedly slipped the sunglasses over her eyes. He raised his eyebrow but she ignored him. "Can I help you?" Shyanna shot at him.

"Actually you can. You can tell me why you broke into the library about three months ago," he said sitting down in a chair next to the bed. Shyanna, who had been sipping a glass of water, choked and swallowed it in a big gulp.

"What makes you think it was me?" she asked putting the glass down. As a precaution, she checked to see if her gun was still strapped to her leg. To the Colonel, it looked like she was just rubbing her leg.

"Well, there's the fact that just almost choked on your water," he said looking at her, "And there's this." He pulled the ribbon she used to tie her hair back out of her pocket. It was light blue with little violet flowers. She grabbed it out of his hand and tied her hair back.

"What does my ribbon have to do with some break-in? Sounds to me like you guys are just lacking in good security," Shyanna calmly shuffled a pack of cards. Mustang watched her for a second before continuing.

"One of the guards at the scene remembers the ribbon. Plus, the fact that ribbon is handmade means it's one of a kind," Mustang said smartly. She sighed and took another sip of water.

"So what now? I go to prison?" she asked, keeping her head down. She pulled out five random cards and fanned them out. "Ha, Royal Flush."

"Most likely," Shyanna glared at the colonel as he said this. "Your cards should keep you entertained though,"

In a split second, Shyanna stood up on her bed and pulled her pistol, just as Colonel Mustang stood up and held his hand out in front of him, ready to snap. She smirked and holstered her weapon, dropping back onto the bed. "I had a good reason," Shyanna muttered.

"And what was that?" Mustang asked, putting his arm down. She leaned back on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling, she pulled off her glasses.

"I wanted to see if my name was still in the files," before he had time to react, she turned to him and held up the five cards. "Second Lieutenant Shyanna White, the Royal Flush Alchemist at your service. Long time, no see Roy."

He sat there, speechless, while she transmuted the zipper onto her jacket again. Reaching into the pocket, Shyanna pulled out the small key and something else. She turned back to him and held up a state alchemist pocketwatch. Tossing it to him, she picked up her bag. Mustang examined her watch as she unlocked the metal box and pulled out the biggest package. Roy looked closely at the watch, making sure it was real.

Meanwhile, Shyanna was in the corner behind a curtain. When she came back out, she was wearing a military uniform and had moved her gun to her hip. Walking over to the bed, she took the watch and turned it over. There on the back someone had scratched a spade. Shyanna slipped the watch into her pocket and pulled a knife out of her boot. She slipped the ribbon down a little and cut her hair to the length it was a year ago.

Roy stood there amazed, looking upon the lieutenant that had disappeared almost a year ago. At that moment, Ed barged into the room. Lt. Shyanna White looked over at him but he apparently didn't recognize her.

"Hold on," Roy stood up, "How do I know you're really her? Sure you have her watch, but you could've killed her and taken that,"

Shyanna laughed, "Same old Roy," she pointed at her eyes. "Take a good look at me."

Roy stood in front of her, staring at her eyes. A second later, his eyes opened wide. Her eyes were one of a kind.

"Where have you been? It's been a year," He said sitting down. Ed was still standing in the doorway, gaping at her.

"I'm perfectly aware how long it's been," Shyanna walked over to Ed and pushed his mouth shut. "Yes, Edward. It's me Mandy, but that's not my true name. I'm actually Second Lieutenant Shyanna White, the Royal Flush Alchemist." She walked back over to her bed and sifted through the box. She pulled out a box of bullets and started to load her gun while Mustang walked over to Ed and explained about Shyanna and her disappearance.

She holstered the gun and took her 'special' cards from the pocket of her coat. They were modified to suit (haha that's kinda a pun if you think about it!) Shyanna's special techniques. Sitting back on the bed, Shyanna started to sort them out. Humming quietly, she put them in a certain order and put them in her pocket. Mustang and Ed walked back over to her, both of them watching her, still shocked.

"Colonel Mustang, I brought the car to take the gir…" Riza Hawkeye, file under her arm, entered the room followed by two guards. She stood in the doorway, looking at Shyanna.

"Hey Riza," Shyanna said, raising her hand in greeting. Riza's eyes widened but she quickly pulled her self together.

"Is that you, Shy?" she managed to get out. Shyanna picked up her ribbon and walked over to Hawkeye.

"The one and only!" Shyanna grinned and Riza looked over to the Colonel.

"Where's the prisoner? The one that broke into the library," Hawkeye asked looking around the room. He just gestured towards Shyanna saying nothing. Riza looked at her then opened the file she had under her arm. She looked back and forth from the pictures in the file to the girl standing in front of her, who was tying the ribbon around her wrist. Shyanna looked over Riza's shoulder at the file. She read the profile and giggled. "What's so funny?" Riza asked.

"Someone forgot the eye color on this report," she said giggling again. She stopped and looked at Roy expectantly.

"You can only come back if you tell us why you left and didn't want to be found," It was his turn to look expectantly at her. Shyanna sighed before Roy continued, "Besides, you're the only one that will do my paperwork for me willingly."

"It'll take me awhile to get my story straight. Is it ok if I come by your office later? Everyone's invited of course." She said looking alittle uncomfortable. Mustang nodded and left the room, Riza following. Ed, however, stayed where he was. Shyanna looked at him, then sat next to him.

"What is it?" she asked. He looked surprised at her and said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you obviously want something or you would have left," she said. Her tone of voice was like that of a very observant young child.

"Well, first off why do you act like that? Like a child," he asked. Shyanna sighed.

"It's my optimism. I developed it after I left. Trust me, I used to be like Roy and Riza. Freedom does that to you. You know Ed, we knew eachother before," she said. Shyanna smiled and thought 'If I keep normal conversation, maybe he won't try to get me to tell him the truth.'

"Really? I don't remember you," he said looking her up and down trying to remember. At least he appeared to be doing so. Ed was really thinking. 'She's keeping the conversation away from her disappearance. Shyanna's hiding something.'


	3. My first day back

Shyanna checked the time and stood up. "Sorry Ed, I gotta go. See you later," she said. Once outside the room she sighed, thinking 'That was close.'

She walked through the halls until she came to her old office. Opening the door she saw Riza and Havoc talking quietly. Shyanna smiled and slipped into the room. "Hi guys,"

"Well hello there," Havoc said looking at her, "Haven't seen you in awhile,"

Shyanna smiled, "Nice try Havoc, I still won't go out with you. Unless you would like this to get out."

She pulled out the queen of hearts and turned it over. On the back was a very embarrassing picture of Havoc making an idiot of himself in a restaurant. When she first joined the military, Shyanna had gone out with him once. Not because she liked him, she did it because Shyanna knows when she can get good blackmail. Havoc made a grab at it but she held it out of his reach and walked over to her old desk. "I take it that my desk is still mine?"

Hawkeye nodded and Shyanna sat down in the chair. She took out the metal box from her bag and put it in the bottom drawer of her desk. Placing the key to the box in her pocket, Shyanna felt underneath her desk. "Aha!" she said triumphantly, taking another small key from under the desk. She locked the drawer and put the second key in her pocket as well. Right as she began to relax, Roy walked into the room.

"That was quick," Shyanna said looking up at him. She looked as if it she hadn't been gone for a year.

"This paperwork is actually for you to be reinstated," he said setting down a stack of papers on her desk. She flipped through the pages and said, "It'll take me about 15 minutes."

Everyone except the Colonel looked at her like she was crazy until Roy said, "Not only is she good at paperwork, Shyanna is fast, descriptive, and neat. Not only that but she'll do my work willingly."

Shyanna smiled as he left the room, then her look turned sour. "Willingly my ass," she muttered.

"What was that?" Havoc asked. Shyanna ignored him and started to work on the papers. Her hand flew across the paper writing in small, neat lettering. In a little more than fifteen minutes, Shyanna was knocking on the door to Col. Mustang's office, completed forms in hand. He told her to come in.

"I'm finished," she said handing him the papers. Shyanna turned to leave.

"Hold on a minute Shyanna," he said. She turned around and looked at him. "Sit down for a second."

Shyanna nodded and sat down wondering what was coming. 'I'm not ready to tell him why I left yet,' she thought.

"I have an assignment for you," he said flipping through a file. "There's a town to the west where it's rumored that a man is making chimeras and selling them as pets. I need you to go take care of him," Shyanna nodded and got up to leave. "Oh and the Elrics are going with you."

Shyanna looked back at him (again) and said, in a slightly annoyed voice, "Why?"

"They are heading to the same town…for their own reasons. With Scar and the Homunculi around, even though they can take care of themselves, I'd feel better if you went with," Mustang closed the file and looked at her expecting her to leave.

"Oh Roy!" Shyanna sang sweetly walking over to his desk, once again acting childish. She pulled an envelope out of her pocket and held it out. "What are the Elrics looking for?"

The Colonel rolled his eyes at her antics. "Shyanna, since when do you act like that?" She realized how she was acting and who to. Instantly, she stood straight and looked down at the floor, muttering "I'm sorry sir. It's been awhile since I was last here. I developed this sort of optimistic, childish attitude while I was traveling. People are friendlier if you act that way instead of being all mysterious. I was only all stiff when I get here because I was so close to the military. But you're avoiding the question. Tell me or I'll release the photo."

"I didn't think you would lose that," he said. Shyanna looked at him closely, "Enough blackmailing, more talking."

"Fine, but you have to keep your mouth shut. They are looking for the Philosopher's Stone. I made a deal with Ed that all stuff we get wind of about it goes to him so when I get a lead and have nothing for him to do, he gets to go look for it. We got information that it's in the West. Are you ok?" Roy leaned over to look up at her face. She had several looks on her face. Surprise, horror, fear all mixed together, but she shook her head. "It's nothing. We'll leave tomorrow morning,"

Shyanna left the office soon after that, heading back to her own. Her face was downcast as she sat down to read the file. She barely noticed Riza and Havoc watching her. Shyanna, being a fast reader as well as fast writer, was finished quickly. She checked the time on her watch and sighed. "At least this means I can put off my explanation."

"Lieutenant White?" someone asked. Shyanna looked up to see Ed.

"Oh hi Ed. What brings you here?" she asked politely, putting the file in a drawer in her desk.

"I'm not interrupting you am I?" he asked. She shook her head and he continued, "I wanted to talk about our assignment. I was wondering if we could leave tonight,"

"Oh, um, sure. That's fine," she said. 'I thought he was going to try and question me again' she thought.

Later that afternoon, Shyanna, Ed, and Al left for the train station. Shyanna insisted that they walk, she didn't like the train and wanted to stretch her legs before sitting. Ed was surprised that she hadn't reverted to her childish ways, now that Roy wasn't around. To his surprise, though, she didn't. Eyes hidden behind her sunglasses, Shyanna trailed behind them, in silence, staring at the ground. Ed was about to ask what was wrong, but they came upon the train station and were met by a surprise. There, waiting next to a car, was the Colonel.

"What are you doing here?" Ed asked him. Shyanna just stayed back not saying anything.

"I've been waiting for you guys. Where have you been?" Mustang asked, ignoring Ed.

"I wanted to walk," Shyanna said barely loud enough for him to hear her. He looked over at her and said in a harsh tone, "Why? So you could get away again?"

Shyanna bit her lip, still looking down at the ground. "I didn't, did I?"

Roy gave her a 'Whatever' look and turned to Ed. "Fuhrer Bradley wants me to come along. He thinks Lieutenant White here might try and run off again,"

Shyanna turned away from the group. 'Damn it! What am I going to do now?' Al watched her while Ed and Mustang talked alittle more about her intentions. Trying to tune them out, she bit down harder on her lip and tasted blood. Wiping it away she said, "Can we just get on the train? Please?"

Both Ed and Roy nodded and Shyanna followed them into the station, readjusting the bag slung over her shoulder. She felt the box shift against her back. They all boarded the train and she made a move to sit alone.

"Hold on Lieutenant," Col. Mustang said behind her. Shyanna turned to him, but kept her head down still. "I would like you to stay where I can see you till we get there."

"You'd like me too or you're ordering me too?" she muttered. Mustang cocked an eyebrow at her.

"What was that?" he asked her in an accusing tone. Shyanna turned her head slightly and said quietly, "Yes, sir."

She sat down in a booth by herself, setting her bag beside her. Shyanna pulled out the metal box and fished the key from her pocket. Unlocking it, she sifted through the remaining items, finally taking out a small book and a pen. As the train pulled away from the station, she began to write about the past few days.

Shyanna had managed to fill two pages when Ed's head popped up over the seat behind her. "Whatcha doin?" he asked peering over her shoulder.

A vein pulsed on her forehead, as she blocked her book from view. "Leave me alone, Ed," she said quietly. He slid out of his booth and sat down opposite her. "I didn't know you had a diary. Do you write in it every day?"

Shyanna closed the book and slipped off her sunglasses. "I only write in it when something important happens. The last time I wrote in it was three months ago," she looked at Ed with her unique blue eyes, as if begging him to leave. Ed's face was all of a sudden more serious.

"Why do act all official and uptight around Mustang?" he asked. Shyanna's eyes widened a little, but not enough to notice. "That's easy. He's my boss, my superior officer." She said. Ed inspected her face closely, and looked over her shoulder at Roy, who was watching them both. Shyanna could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head.

"Well, yeah but, I have a feeling that's not it. As little as I know you; you've been kind of hyper and childish. Except for our meeting on the street that is. You're like a perfect military official around him. That's not you," he said watching her face for emotion. Shyanna sighed deeply.

"Let's just say that it's part of a deal we made a long time ago. The Colonel has several things in his back pocket on me," she looked up at Ed, gazing into his eyes so he knew she wasn't lying. "I have to keep to my mouth shut and treat him with respect,"

After that, Ed left her alone and Shyanna decided to get some sleep. In the seat behind her, Ed was thinking.

"Is something wrong, brother?" Al asked him. Ed shook his head and looked up at him.

"Al, has Shyanna been limping? Her ankle should still be hurting her, it only happened yesterday," Ed said quietly, apparently thinking hard. If it could have, a look of realization would've crossed Al's face.

"Now that you mention it brother, I don't think she was. Strange isn't it?" Al said. Ed peeked over the seat at her, sleeping soundly.

Sitting back down he said, "I'm gonna ask her…now," He got up and walked back over to where he was sitting earlier. Al held out his hand to stop him.

"Ed, let her sleep," he said. Edward just ignored him and shook Shyanna's shoulder a bit roughly. Shyanna groaned and grabbed his wrist, glaring up at him fiercely.

"I know we're not there yet, Edward, so what do you want?" Ed wrenched his hand out of her grip.

"How's your ankle feeling?" he asked. His voice was not filled with concern, but suspicion. Shyanna sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"It's fine. Why?" she asked being a bit more cautious now, after the tone he had used. Ed looked down at her, still standing.

"It's only a day after you sprained it, but your walking without limping. When you first woke up you could barely walk," he said. Shyanna's eyes opened wide. 'Man, I knew someone would notice' she thought. Wrenching her gaze to the ground, Shyanna answered.

"I just heal quickly, that's all."

What happened next barely gave Shyanna time to react. Ed clapped his hands and transmuted a blade onto his automail arm, and Shyanna transmuted on of her cards into a small dagger. He swung at her and she brought the dagger up to hold off his blade. Both Al and Mustang got up and ran over. Shyanna hadn't seen much action in a long time and was barely holding Ed off.

"What are you doing?" she asked putting her other hand on the handle of her little dagger to add the strength of her other arm. Ed kept pushing on the blade of it, not letting up.

"Seeing how fast you really heal!"

"Brother, stop it!" Al said watching the two. Shyanna looked like her arms were about to give in. As they watched, Ed's blade got closer and closer to her.

"Stop it, Edward," Mustang commanded him. At that, Ed backed off and transmuted his arm back to normal. Shyanna sat there, panting, and wiped the sweat off her forehead. She transmuted the dagger back to a playing card and put it in her pocket. When she finally caught her breath, she exploded.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" she screamed at him. Usually Ed would have recoiled but her stood there firm, still wearing that serious look on his face. "WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? CHOP MY HEAD OFF? No matter how much he bugs me, I'm sitting with the Colonel from now on," she picked up her bag and shoved past all of them.

Mustang rounded on Ed as soon as Shyanna had sat back down.

"What do you think you're doing? That's one of my best officers you nearly killed! What lead you to nearly cut her throat like that?" he demanded. Ed looked up at him; shocked he hadn't realized it before.

"Don't you find it odd that she's been walking around, the day after she sprained her ankle, without limping, Colonel? Nobody can heal that quickly," Ed shot at him.

"What do you think she is, a homunculus? Hate to break it to you Ed, but Shyanna is as human as you and I," Mustang said to him.

"How can you be sure?" Edward asked him watching the back of Shyanna's head. She was shaking slightly, as if she was crying. Al went over to talk to her, while Roy looked at Shyanna then rounded back at Ed.

"I know things about Shyanna no one else does, Ed."


	4. Fragrant Lenona

By now, Shyanna had calmed down

Wiping small tears from her eyes she muttered, "Thanks Al." Al stood up and walked back over the Ed, who had sat back down. Shyanna stared out the window as Mustang sat down. Clutching her bag to her chest, she said quietly, "I don't want to talk about it."

"You need to be more careful," he said watching her. A stray tear slipped down Shyanna's cheek.

"I know."

"So why did you disappear?"

"Roy, you already know why." Shyanna reached into her bag and pulled out her diary. She flipped through it absentmindedly, calmed down a lot more. He eyed her, watching her emotionless face.

"I don't think I have the full story," Shyanna stopped flipping the pages for a second and looked up at him. Her hand drifted over the book to cover up her latest entry.

"What makes you think that?" she asked. Glancing over her shoulder, Shyanna noticed that same serious look on Ed's face as he stared out the window. She couldn't help thinking 'Nosy little kid,'

Ed was deep in thought about Shyanna. She was most definitely hiding something, that much was obvious, but what was it? Until a few seconds ago, he had been watching her and Mustang talking. Mustang looked as if he was trying to comfort her and question her at the same time, but Ed couldn't really tell. Al watched his brother before asking, "Is something wrong brother?"

"I can't help thinking there's some kind of big secret here," Ed looked over at him, then at the back of Shyanna's head.

"She just might be able to take the pain," Al suggested. Ed shook his head.

"She would still be a little tender on it," Ed watched as Shyanna stared out the window for a moment before going back to what she was doing. He saw in her reflection that she was scared of something.

Shyanna was writing the recent event down in her diary.

_That nosy Elric is too smart for his own good. He noticed that I haven't been limping on my ankle. And not only that, but he didn't buy the whole "I heal quickly," thing. No, instead he tried to chop my head off. He claimed to be seeing how fast I really do heal. Good thing I have excellent reflexes or I'd have a slit throat right about now. I'm actually thankful that Roy was around. I know I can trust him not to say anything, but he uses it to get me to do everything. Not only that but I can't forgive him for April 7th. But back to Ed. He's a nice kid and a very good alchemist, but he needs to stop nosing around._

_I'd like to help him,_

_I want to help him_

_But I can't tell him about it. _

_I can't tell anyone, not Ed, not Roy, not anybody._

"Shyanna?" Roy's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She quickly snapped the book shut and put it back in her bag.

"What?" she asked. It wasn't a harsh tone more of a 'What did I do?' one.

"You're not gonna tell me are you?"

"There's nothing more to tell."

"Are you sure?"

"Are you ever going to let up on these questions?"

"Not until I get some answers," Mustang was getting impatient, Shyanna could tell.

"Sorry, but I need to get some sleep seeing as I was rudely awakened," she moved the bag onto the floor and lay out on the seat, staring at the ceiling. For a moment, she held up her left arm. At that moment, Ed looked up and saw her hand and he realized for the first time that it was automail. Shyanna looked up at it in a sad hurt way, but also with hatred. Roy watched her eyes as they filled with emotion, then up at her arm.

"So you got it fixed up?" he said casually. Shyanna didn't say anything, not wanting to talk anymore and rolled over drifting into a dreamless sleep.

It was early dawn when her eyes opened again. No one else was awake, and Shyanna preferred it that way. It gave her time to think. She got up and stretched walking over to the other side of the car. She sat down as far as she could from the others and pulled out her playing cards. Solitaire always seemed to help.

While she was playing, another person woke up. Ed yawned, wondering why he had woken up so early. That wasn't like him. He peeked over the seat and saw Shyanna's empty seat. Looking around he spotted her concentrating on her game. 'What is she hiding?' he thought watching her playing, 'There are three ways to find out, but none of them are things I want to do. I refuse to ask Shyanna herself, I'm not positive Mustang knows the big secret. The only thing to do would be to read her diary.'

Ed looked back over the seat at Shyanna's blue bag, sitting on the floor next to her seat. He had his hand out as if to reach for it when he heard footsteps coming his direction.

"What are you doing, Edward?" she stood behind him, cards in hand, looking at him accusingly. He quickly pulled his hand back and looked away from her. Shyanna looked over at her bag and realized she had left her diary out of the box. She walked over to it and wrenched it open grabbing the diary and shoving it in the box. Locking it and carefully putting the key in her pocket she sighed and sat back down. A stray lock of hair fell into her face.

"Damn, I forgot having it short means I can't tie it back," she said tucking the hair behind her ear with her automail hand.

"How'd that happen?" Ed asked walking around the seat to sit down next to her. Shyanna laughed quietly.

"Why should I tell you? You nearly slit my throat," she said looking out the window. A town could be seen getting closer. "Oh, that's our stop."

She reached over and nudged Mustang. "Colonel, we're almost to Lenona."

The moment they stepped off the train, they were hit with the sweet fragrance of flowers. Shyanna inhaled deeply, smiling. "This reminds me of home," she said looking around.

It was obvious that this town's specialty was flowers. There were flower stands everywhere they looked, all with all sorts of different flowers. Shyanna smiled at everyone around her, she even went over to a stand and bought a yellow and pink rose. She cut the stem so it was only about two inches long and had no thorns on it. She slipped it behind her ear, so it pushed her short hair back alittle bit. She fell behind alittle bit after throwing one of the children's balls back to them. Both Mustang and Ed looked at her as if she were crazy.

"What are you doing? We're here on business, not on a leisure trip," the Colonel said to her, watching as she waved at some little kids playing. Shyanna rolled her eyes and ran up to walk next to him.

"Oh please. You must associate yourself with the people so they don't feel threatened by the fact that you're from the state. If they feel more comfortable, then everything runs more smoothly," Shyanna put her hands behind her head and sighed, "You guys really don't understand how to do your own job."

Ed and Al gaped at her, but Mustang just smirked. "And that is why you're one of the best," he said to her. Shyanna blushed and looked at Ed over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him.

They entered the inn they were staying at, Shyanna still smiling. Mustang got the keys to their rooms and they went up to their rooms. However, when she entered her room, she stopped smiling immediately. Fuming, Shyanna walked out her door and over to the Colonels, which has right next door. She pounded on the door, fists clenched. When he answered the door, she didn't even give him time to ask "what?"

"You're kidding me! I have to stay in a room connected to yours?" Shyanna said, trying hard not to scream. Roy just looked at her.

"We don't want you running off again," he said simply.

"Do you not trust me that much? Come on! This is ridiculous!" Roy just shrugged and Shyanna stormed back into her room. She pulled out her brush and got the rats out of her hair. Someone knocked on the door right as she had put the rose back in her hair. She opened the door a crack and seeing Ed there closed it in his face. He pounded on the door again but she ignored him.

"Keep trying kid but I'm not gonna talk to you," she muttered to herself leaning against the door.

"You really should at least try to talk to him," a voice said in her room. She answered without even thinking.

"Damn kid doesn't know when to quit," All of a sudden she realized what was going on. Shyanna looked over at Mustang, who was standing in the doorway of the door that connected their rooms. "Hey! Have you ever heard of knocking?"

"Lieutenant…" he said warningly.

"You still could've knocked," she said bitterly. Roy just glared at her until she hung her head. "Sorry, sir."

He smirked satisfied and turned to go back in to his room. "Let Fullmetal in."

Shyanna sighed and opened the door into the hall. Ed was still standing there, just staring at the door.

"What do you want?" she asked, regretting every moment of it. He either wanted to apologize or to pry some more.

"Shyanna, I…" he started.

"Mr. Elric, I'm not sure if you and I are exactly on a first name basis here. If you came to say you're sorry, apology not accepted and if you want to know more forget about it," she wasn't happy about him being here at all.

"I should've known you weren't…You can do alchemy," he said staring down at the ground, much as Shyanna had down back in Central.

"And you just now noticed that?" Shyanna glared at him and checked the time. "I'm hungry, so this ends our conversation. Goodbye, Mr. Elric."

She closed the door before he could reply. Shyanna made sure the key to her box was still in her pocket and knocked on Mustangs door. When he opened it, she decided to get one more snide remark in.

"I hope you were paying attention, that was your lesson on knocking. Is it ok if I get something to eat?"

"Only if you take Ed with you."

"What? Why?"

"Do I really have to answer that?"

Shyanna fumed silently. 'This sucks in so many ways," she thought sourly as she knocked on the door. Ed opened it and looked surprised up at her, obviously not expecting Shyanna to willingly come to his door.

"The Colonel says I have to take you with me if I want to go eat," she said, "So come on."

Shyanna, Al, and Ed walked through town to a small café. Ed and Al went over to sit in a booth, expecting Shyanna to follow but she walked over to the counter and sat there. She ordered some water and a stack of pancakes. While she waited for her food, Shyanna started a game of solitaire. A couple of young men entered the café when she got her food. They eyed her for awhile, sitting farther down the counter and one of them finally walked over.

"What's a pretty girl like you doin' in the military?" he asked. Shyanna looked up at him. He had blonde hair and green eyes, he was cute but she wasn't interested.

"I have my own reasons," she said and took a sip of her water. She flipped some cards over and made a few moves on her game.

"Why don't take a break and go for a walk with me?" he asked hopefully. Shyanna looked at him over her sunglasses.

"Sorry, I'm on duty," she said idly. She took a bite of her pancakes and smoothed a wrinkle out of her uniform. He looked alittle disappointed.

"Oh, come on you can take a little break," he urged. Shyanna smirked as she picked up her cards.

"I'll go out with you if you beat me at a hand of poker," she said simply shuffling the cards. He laughed.

"OK, sure." He sat down beside her and she handed him the cards to shuffle. The guy quickly shuffled and dealt the cards. He looked pretty happy with his hand.

"Ha ha, full house!" he exclaimed setting his cards down on the counter. Ed came over to see what was going on and looked over at Shyanna.

"The Colonel won't be happy if you go out while we're on duty," he said to her, looking worried.

"Don't worry Ed," she said laying down her hand, "Royal Flush!" The boy's jaw dropped and he stuttered.

"You cheated!"

"I can't have, you shuffled," Shyanna stood up and put a few dollars on the counter to pay for her meal. She turned to Ed. "They don't call me the Royal Flush alchemist for nothing."

"Ed, I'm gonna go to the square. Tell Roy if he wants to make sure I don't run away that he can see me from his window."


	5. Chimeras and Homunculi

Shyanna walked outside and went to play with some of the children. After a long game of tag, they sat down by the fountain. She let them ask her about being in the military.

"Do you ever get to use a gun?" one of the little boys asked.

"Sometimes, only if someone has been real bad and is trying to hurt someone else," she said.

"Do you have a boss?" a little girl asked. Shyanna laughed.

"Yes," she said. All of the girls got interested.

"Do you like him?"

"Roy? Oh no, not like that. In fact I don't really think of him as a friend either. He can be really mean sometimes. Oh look, that's him over there in the military uniform," Shyanna pointed to Roy, who was standing in front of their hotel. He looked like he was looking for her, but she didn't care. Telling the kids she would be right back, Shyanna ran over to one of the flower stands and bought a couple roses and some daisies.

"Miss Shyanna," one of the little girls said shyly when she got back, "I think your boss is cute."

Shyanna laughed and handed her a rose saying, "Here go tell him."

The little girl ran over to him and handed him the rose silently and ran back. "I couldn't say anything…"

"That's ok, I'll tell him for you later. Now watch this," Shyanna took out one of her cards that had a transmutation circle on the back. She set it on the ground and set a couple of daisies on it. The little girls leaned in to watch as Shyanna touched a finger to the circle. There was a soft glow and the daises appeared strung together in a wreath. She set it on one of the little girls heads and made them until everyone had one. At that moment, Mustang came up to where Shyanna was sitting with the children.

"Lieutenant, we better get to work," he said. She nodded and looked down to the girls. The one who said she liked Roy was hiding behind her back.

"Sorry kids, I need to go do my job. You see the roses on the cards I gave you? When I leave they will turn into hearts but, when I come back they'll turn back into roses ok?" All the children nodded and ran off to show their moms the daisy crowns they had gotten. Shyanna stood up and walked towards the address of the man who was selling chimeras with Roy.

When they got there it looked like a normal store. A bell jingled as they opened the door, and the man working the counter looked over at them, surprised.

"Can I help you?" he asked. 'I'll just let Roy handle this,' Shyanna thought pulling a pen and a small pad of paper out of her pocket.

"Sir, are you aware that you are not allowed to sell illegally made chimeras?"

Mustang went on questioning the guy, while Shyanna walked around the shop in a lazy manner. At least that's what it looked like. She was actually taking very detailed notes on everything in the shop. Not like she needed to, Shyanna had a photographic memory, but Roy needed the info for his report. She wandered into the back room, where all the chimeras were stored. 'These poor, poor creatures,' she thought walking along the isles. After making careful notes, she went back out to the front counter, where Roy was finishing up.

"Now, do you have any sort of record on who you sold the chimeras to?" he asked the convict. Shyanna walked over to stand beside Roy and put a stack of papers on the counter. "Lieutenant did you…"

Shyanna held up her notepad.

"Did you get the…"

Shyanna held up a tape recorder that had the conversation on it.

"Well, let's go get those chimeras then."

They handcuffed the guy and dragged him to the local police, who would get him to the military. Before they left the shop, Shyanna grabbed a big cardboard box. Mustang looked at her questioningly.

"What's in there?" he asked. She just shrugged and walked over o the car they were using. It had cages in the back for the chimeras. Shyanna climbed in with the box on her lap and they drove for the first house. It was the house of the little girl that liked Roy. Leaving her box in the car, Shyanna walked up and knocked on the door. The girls mom answered the door, smiling.

"Oh hi Lieutenant. Thank you for keeping the children busy this morning. We've been very busy lately," the girls mother said, then she spotted Roy and said "Is there a problem?"

"Oh no problem. I believe you bought a pet from the man down the street. I'm afraid we're gonna have to take it with us," Shyanna said trying to sound natural. The mother looked sad.

"Oh, that's too bad. She loves that thing to death. Sweetie1 Bring Lucy in here please!" she yelled over her shoulder. The little girl came running in, a chimera at her heels. It was made from a cat and a bird. She saw Shyanna and smiled wide, running to her for a hug. Shyanna hugged her and looked down at the chimera. The little girl saw Roy and made alittle squeak, leaping behind her mother. As much as she didn't want to Shyanna picked up the little animal.

"I'm sorry but, I'm gonna have to take Lucy with me," she said holding it in her arms.

"Why?" the little girl asked, clutching her mother's skirt. Shyanna gave the chimera to Roy who went to put it in the car while she bent down to the girls level.

"The guy you got her from is bad and shouldn't have given you Lucy. But I can make it up to you," Shyanna ran over to the car and took something out of the box. She ran back over to the little girl and handed a little orange kitten to her.

"Kitty!" she said hugging the little kitten. Shyanna smiled and turned to leave.

"Sorry, I need to go. Have fun with your kitten!" Shyanna walked back over to the car and climbed in with Roy. As he pulled away from the house, she petted the remaining kittens.

"Where do you think of things like this?" he asked her. Shyanna shrugged.

"It's not fair that we just take childrens pets. This way they get a new pet," Shyanna looked down the list. "He didn't get to do much selling before we got wind of him. Only eight people."

It didn't take long for them to get all the chimeras. While Roy went to finish up, Shyanna walked back to the hotel. On the way there, she bumped into Ed and Al.

"Oh hey guys, how'd it go?" she asked. They walked beside her back to the hotel looking disappointed.

"We got nothing. Wait, how did you know we were looking for…something." Ed looked at her curiously.

"Roy's not the only one who can blackmail. It's not like I'll tell or anything. Sorry you didn't find what you where looking for," Shyanna said as they entered the hotel. When they got up to their rooms. Mustang was waiting for them, leaning against his door.

"How'd it go boys?" he asked.

"We didn't find anything," Ed said looking depressed. Roy glanced at Shyanna and walked into his room. She sighed, knowing he wanted to talk to her and entered her room. Taking off her blue coat, so she was in a white short sleeve shirt and her uniform pants, Shyanna started to brush her hair sitting in front of the mirror. Her blue-violet eyes looked at her reflection and saw Roy standing in the doorway that connected their rooms.

"Didn't I tell you to knock?" she said turning around in her chair to look at him.

"Shyanna, you should tell them."

"No."

"I promised Ed."

"You promised me long before Ed."

"They need it."

"No one needs it. For all sakes it shouldn't even exist."

"I thought it didn't"

"Not a complete one."

"Stop being stubborn." Roy looked irritated. Shyanna wouldn't give in.

"It's my job to keep my mouth shut."

"You didn't do that too well when I found you."

She turned to him, tears in her eyes, automail hand held up in a fist. He gave her the same stare he always did when she didn't cooperate. Shyanna sighed, grabbing her coat and bag.

"I'm not gonna tell," she said before running out the door. Outside a dark figure sat outside the window listening.

Shyanna walked down the street in her uniform, hands in her pockets. "I can't believe he would ask me to tell them. What a jerk."

She passed several closed shops and dark alleys. Not sure of whether to run away again or not, she just walked through town. "I don't want to leave, I like my job."

"Sorry Lieutenant, you're gonna be MIA (missing in action) for awhile," a voice said from the darkness. Before she had time to even draw her gun, Shyanna was knocked over the head and fell unconscious.


	6. All I can and More Than I Should

"Are you sure that's what they were talking about?" a voice said. Shyanna kept still, eyes closed, and tried to remember what had happened.

"I'm positive," another voice said, this one slightly familiar. 'Roy was trying to get me to tell the Elrics,' she thought. 'And I stormed out…that's right!'

Shyanna slowly opened her eyes, groaning from the bump on the back of her head. Three people looked over at her from where they had been conversing.

"Well, well. Our little Lieutenant is awake now," said the first one. A woman with long dark hair stood off to the side, along with a man with long green hair, much like a palm tree. The third was a short, fat man who was drooling slightly.

"What do you want?" Shyanna asked bitterly, "No wait, don't answer that. I'm not telling you anything, Lust."

"Oh you know about me, do you?" she said in her soft voice. Shyanna nodded. She was bound to a chair, gun and cards gone. 'Roy's probably worried sick, his lackey is missing.' She thought. Shyanna pulled up the sleeve covering her automail and touched her finger to a small transmutation circle scratched into the metal. After a little flash, Shyanna was sawing away at her bonds, not noticing the Homunculi watching her amused.

She leaped out of her chair towards what appeared to be the only exit. In a flash, Envy flipped over her head and blocked the way.

"Now, now Lieutenant, we're not through with you," he said smirking, much like Roy did. Shyanna made a move to dodge around him, and he swung at her. She dodged it, ducking down to uppercut and received a hard knee in the stomach. She flew backward onto the hard ground.

---------------

"Where the hell is she?" Mustang yelled, sitting in Shyanna's room with Ed and Al. Ed shrugged and muttered something about being hungry.

"I'm gonna go look for her," Roy said getting up. 'I can't let her get away. She just got back.' He thought.

Shyanna winced as she sat up, clutching her stomach. As soon as she was up, she was knocked back down with a hit to the head, then kicked in the ribs.

"Feel like talking now?" Envy said looking down at her.

"Damn homunculi," she muttered slowly sitting back up. Her free hand slowly went down to the top of her boot feeling around for her knife. 'Damn! They got that too!'

"Oh, are you missing something?" he taunted, while Shyanna backed up to lean against a wall.

"I'm…not…saying…anything," she panted.

"Really?" Envy kicked her in the side of the head and Shyanna flew sideways and landed sprawled out on the floor. Her normal deck of cards fell out of her pocket.

"I didn't want to resort to this," Shyanna waved her hand over the cards and they flew through the air. She leaned against the wall, standing up and held out her hand in front of her. Five cards rotated around her outstretched human hand, glowing until they turned to daggers. The three homunculi backed up, eyes wide.

"What the hell?" Envy yelled. Lust giggled once she got over the shock.

"You can't kill us, lieutenant," she said. It was Shyanna's turn to laugh.

"Oh I know," she said as five more cards rotated around her hand and turned into daggers. "But I can hold you off."

She threw the daggers at them, pinning their clothes to the wall, much as she had back at central. Shyanna turned and ran towards the door.

"Oh no you don't!" Lust cried as her finger lengthened, Envy and Gluttony trying to get loose. Her finger got Shyanna's leg. She cried out and fell to the ground. Pushing herself up, she looked around. Spotting her gun, knives, and cards on a table she grabbed them and ran out the door. Limping badly, she walked down the street, clutching her stomach where it was starting to bruise.

A car drove by her as it started to rain. It braked suddenly and Roy got out and ran over to her.

"Where have you…" he started but stopped seeing her all beat up. "Shyanna, what happened?"

She let her knees give in and collapsed onto the ground. Mustang was by her side in a second as she muttered, "Homun…culi."

And once again, everything went dark.

Shyanna woke up in the hospital in Central. It hurt to move. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Ed sitting beside her bed.

"Hi Ed, I would've expected Havoc to be here more then you," she said smiling weakly. "So how long has it been?"

"You've only been out a bit more than a day," he said. Shyanna smiled again and tried to sit up, but some of her ribs were broken so it hurt. Ed helped her sit up and lean against some pillows. "Mustang was really worried when you didn't come back."

"I think he was just mad that I actually ran out on him. It's his fault I left and got all beat up like this though," she said watching the ceiling.

"What did he say to make you run off like that?" he asked. Shyanna closed her eyes.

"That's between me and him. Besides, I'm surprised you're not more interested in why I was kidnapped by the Homunculi," she said.

"That was actually my next question. You're pretty smart," Ed smiled at her.

"She always has been," a voice said from the door. Shyanna's eyes snapped open as Ed turned his head.

"Oh hi Roy!" she said, somewhat happily. He walked over to her bed and looked down at Ed. Getting the message, Ed got up and left.

"Ed, make sure Havoc isn't listening at the door please!" Shyanna called after him. She turned to Mustang, who had taken Ed's seat. "You're mad at me aren't you?"

"Well yes and no," he said. "I'm mad that you ran off, but I know why you did."

"Of course you do. You know perfectly well it's my job to keep quiet and you wanted me to spill. I only told you because you had me backed into a corner," she said casually.

"So did the Homunculi," he said watching her.

"Not as bad as you think."

"You're much worse off now then you were then."

"That's just a matter of opinion now isn't it?" Shyanna yawned. "I should be okay by tomorrow anyway. But I know you didn't come here to take a trip down memory lane. You would like a full account of my abduction, would you not?"

Mustang smiled, "You know too much for your own good, you know that right?"

She grinned back. "It's simple really. Envy knocked me out as I walked past an alley, when I woke up they tried to get me to talk, I wouldn't, Envy kicked the crap out of me, I got passed them and ran out."

"How'd you get away?" he asked.

"That's a lot more complicated."

"And that's the part of the story I don't know," he said smirking. 'Damn it all!' she thought.

"I…well…" Shyanna sighed. "Come on Roy, give me a break for once, will you?"

"Fine, but come by my office later, okay?" he stood up and left without waiting for an answer. Seeing him leave, Ed came back in.

"You're not going to question me too are you?" she said reaching over to her bag and pulling out her diary.

"Actually…" Shyanna shot him a death glare. "You see, Shyanna, I was listening at the door back in Lenona…"

"YOU WHAT!" Shyanna yelled at him and threw the glass next to her bed at him. "GET OUT! YOU ARE SO DEAD WHEN ROY FINDS OUT!"

She stood up and got back into her uniform. It still hurt to move but she would manage. After quickly brushing her hair, Shyanna walked slowly to Mustang's office. She knocked and when he called to her to come in she burst through the door. The pain in her ribs worsened and she sat down panting.

"Are you aware that Ed was listening to our conversation back in Lenona?" she said, clutching her ribs.

"Actually, I told him to listen…"

"YOU WHAT!"

"I knew you wouldn't say anything to him.."

"You…you set me up…"

"Shyanna…"

"I thought I could trust you!" tears now streaming down her face, Shyanna turned away from him. Riza walked in while Shyanna was wiping the tears from her face, even though they kept coming.

"What's going on in here?" she asked looking around at them. Shyanna sobbing on the couch and Mustang just was watching her. "What's wrong, Shy?"

"Leave us Hawkeye," Mustang said simply. She nodded and left. Shyanna got up to leave after her, but someone grabbed her wrist. "It's time you told the truth, Shyanna."

"Let me go."

"You're just going to run off again."

"What do you care?"

"I do care." Shyanna wrenched her arm out of his grip and turned to face him.

"You sold me out, Roy! You know I can't say anything! You know it's my duty to keep my mouth shut! And what do you do? You set me up! And now look what has happened! The Elrics keep trying to question me and the Homunculi are looking for me too! Next thing you know and you'll have sold me out to the higher ups here!" she walked back over to the couch she had been sitting on and plopped down on it. She didn't notice Ed walk into the room.

"Umm…What's going on?" he asked. Shyanna just sat on the couch, silently crying her eyes out. Mustang sighed and sat back down at the desk. He gestured for Ed to sit down too. She bit her lip, knowing what was coming.

"Shyanna, you are going to tell us the truth and you are going to tell us now damn it!" Roy slammed his fist down on the desk.

"I…I can't…"

"You can and you will."

She didn't say anything. Roy sighed. He was about to say something else when Shyanna spoke up.

"Ed, my…town, Eristine, nearly everyone there researches the philosophers stone," she said quietly. His eyes widened. "First, I'll tell you what Roy already knows. We all know about it, every single one of us. It's mostly the men that research it now. We used to have a bunch of Red stones lying about but we were polluting ourselves like Xenotime. One family in Eristine is in charge of guarding the town against intruders who want the stone for themselves. My father was the only man not researching the stone. He was guarding it. When I turned ten years old, my father died from exposure to the red water. Being an only child the duty was passed to me. I was already pretty good at alchemy and fighting so all I had to do was keep an eye on the outside. Then came April the seventh of the year when I turned sixteen. Somehow info had gotten out on our little town and the military came to call, lead by none other than Roy Mustang," Shyanna stopped talking for a minute as the image crossed her mind.

"She fought good," Mustang said quietly, "But,"

"But not good enough," she finished. "He had me backed into a corner, all my resources gone. I was out of bullets, cards, and time. When he attacked again I could only hold it of with my arm," She held up her automail arm. "You can imagine how that went. My whole sleeve caught fire. I thought for sure that I was finished. I was so disappointed in myself for failing my entire town. Then, he spared me. I still remember sitting against that cold wall and holding onto what was left of my arm, waiting for the final blow. Next thing I knew, the man who had just taken my arm and almost my life, was helping me up off the ground. Roy called off his troops and left, taking me with him. I lived by myself in Central until I was old enough to take the exam. He was the only one who knew about anything that happened. I trusted him except for the fact that he blackmailed me every chance he got. Then about a year ago I got a letter. From home. My mother had died and they had no one else to do my job. My town needed me. So, I asked for a week long vacation and took off back to Eristine. I only spent about a month there. By the time I got there, one of the other men had taken over protection. So I decided to travel. Roy is smart, I knew he would figure out he didn't know everything plus I was tired of having to do all his work. I went far west and decided to check up on things here nine months after I left. Not wanting to reveal myself, I used my knowledge of the security to break in and check. They didn't have me marked dead yet, that was all I wanted to see but on my way out I was caught. The guard got me by my hair and the ribbon I used to tie it back. He must have got a good look at it before I snatched it back and ran. Then three months later I helped catch that crook."

"And that's the part that Roy knows, right?" Ed said. Shyanna nodded and wiped her eyes.

"And now what he doesn't know. Everyone in my town, we all possess some sort of special power. It must've been from all the red water and fake stones that we got exposed to. I almost never use mine." She took her normal cards out of her pocket and walked over setting them on the desk. Looking down at the ground, she waved her hand in a large sweeping motion over the cards and they flew into the air, swirling around her body. Sticking her hand out in front of her, most of the cards returned to the desk in a neat pile, while only five of them remained, rotating like they had when she escaped the homunculi. With a soft glow they turned to daggers and she muttered, "This is how I escaped the Homunculi."

"But that's not all you don't know. Each and every person from Eristine has an incomplete philosophers stone."

"Where's yours?" Ed asked. Shyanna pulled the blue ribbon off her wrist and held it up. Both Roy and Ed looked at it confused. She took a normal card of the top of the deck. The card glowed and floated up over her outstretched hand. With her other hand, Shyanna dropped the ribbon into the glow and the card began to rotate rapidly. In a flash the ribbon and the card disappeared, leaving what looked like a small red bubble lying in the palm of her hand. Ed reached out to touch it, but Shyanna closed her hand around it.

"Are you satisfied now?" she shot at Mustang, tears welling up in her eyes. "I've spilled everything I can, and much more than I should have!"

"I don't think you're done," he said calmly. Shyanna fell to her knees.

"Fine, we have it. Okay! We have the stone! But no one can have it! Those arrogant bastards only did it to prove they could!" Shyanna turned the stone back into a ribbon and tied in back on her wrist. She stood up shakily, while Ed stared at her and Mustang sat there a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Take me to Eristine," Ed said quietly. Shyanna shook her head.

"I can't. I know how much you want it, how far you've gone to get it but I can't. For all I know, they've destroyed it by now. All I know is that they had it when I left. My people are smart enough to know not to keep it around," she turned to leave. "I'll be at my desk."

Shyanna left Roy's office, no longer crying walking slowly down the hall. When she entered the office, Riza and Havoc were conversing quietly.

"I'm okay guys, Roy just knows how to get to me. Like how he can make Ed explode."

"I don't know, you looked pretty bad when I came in," Riza looked concerned, so did Havoc.

"I'm fine really!" Shyanna smiled and sat down at her desk. "You guys shouldn't worry about me so much! I escaped the Homunculi didn't I?"

They stared and she realized her mistake. 'Me and my big mouth.'

"You guys didn't know? Ah crap!"

She got up from her desk and walked out. Shyanna walked right out of headquarters. 'This is getting insane,' she thought 'I've only been back a few days.'

She headed to a small bar on the edge of town. Being the middle of the day, she was the only one there besides the bartender. She ordered a drink and while he got it, the bartender eyed her uniform. "You sure you should be drinking during hours?"

"I don't care anymore," she said quietly when he handed her her drink. She sat there wondering if anyone was gonna come looking for her, not really caring at the same time. Shyanna sat there for hours, and kept drinking. Finally, she decided to leave, but at this point she could barely walk straight. She walked in the general direction of HQ while the sky got darker. When she got closer, someone in a military uniform ran towards her. 'Just my luck,' she thought recognizing the figure as Mustang. She zigzagged along the road, ignoring him.

"Where the hell have you been?" he said, grabbing her arm to help her walk. She jerked her arm out of his grip.

"Spare me the lecture," she said, slurring her words.

"God Shyanna! What'd you go and get drunk for?"

"Leave me alone, bastard."

"Lieutenant…"

"Don't give me that crap."

"Come on let's get you inside."

"Roy, I'm fine. Watch," Shyanna closed her eyes and the ribbon on her wrist glowed. "See?"

She was no longer slurring her words and when she walked, she walked straight. He walked beside her, keeping an eye out for any signs of drunkenness. They got back to headquarters without any mishaps but, Shyanna couldn't get away before Mustang pulled her into his office again.

"I'm really starting to hate this place," she muttered, sitting down in front of his desk.

"I shouldn't have to treat you like a child. Fullmetal acts older than you," Roy sighed and sat down at his desk. "You've got to stop doing stuff like this, Shyanna."

"I honestly don't care anymore," she said stubbornly. "I should still be in Eristine, doing my job."

"That's not your job anymore, doing what I tell you to do is," Roy got up in her face to emphasize his point. Shyanna looked down at the ground, eyes threatening to tear up again.

"I'm sorry, Roy, I really am," she said quietly. "You're putting me under so much stress right now, I've never had to tell anyone before. And now the Homunculi know about me too…"

Mustang knelt down to her level and set his hand on hers. She looked up to find his eyes gazing into hers.

"Don't you realize yet that I'm trying to help you?" he said softly. "I have been since I brought you here from Eristine. It's just easier if I know everything."

Shyanna looked away from him, eyes glassy. "What makes you think I need help?"

"Something I saw in your eyes that April seventh," he said simply.

Shyanna just sat there, staring at her hands. It had been a long time since anyone had spoke to her like that, even while she was living in Eristine. The townspeople had always just seen her as their shield, and if something went wrong she was blamed. Like when information had leaked out on the little town. According to them, it had been Shyanna's fault, just like the military coming. Is that what Mustang was talking about?

A few minutes later, she left his office, making her way back to her own office. Shyanna wasn't surprised to find Havoc and Hawkeye conversing quietly when she entered the room.

"Why is it whenever I come in, you guys are talking about me?" she said jokingly sitting down.

"Because every time before you show up, you give us reason to. Like this time you ran off in the middle of a work day," Havoc said matter of factly.

"Like I seem to say so often, I had my reasons," Shyanna said pulling out her deck of cards. "I think I'll play some nice head clearing Solitaire."

"Why do you need to clear your head, Shy?" Riza asked her.

"Oh, just everything that has happened in the past few days that's all."

"Did you really get caught by the Homunculi?" Shyanna looked up from her game.

"Yeah, why?"

"It was just unexpected."

"You'd be surprised at how many unexpected things happen to me," Shyanna said, thinking of what Roy had said to her.


End file.
